Learning to Leap

There are times when I liken my faith to that of a young child, standing on the diving board of the deep end of the swimming pool, intensely contemplating whether or not they should jump off into the deep. In this scenario, there is a parent treading steadily in the deep water beckoning, coaxing and reassuring the small child that they will catch them when they jump. The child has no reason to doubt the encouragement of the parent-because after all, they’d never let their own baby sink to the murky bottom- and yet the child hesitates…contemplates…waits.

How is this like my faith?

Of course in this metaphorical narrative, I picture myself as the fearful youngster, not sure if I should trust the calm and reassuring words of the one already in the water. You might have guessed that the one waiting in the deep is my heavenly Father. He’s given me promise after promise that He knows what’s best for me…I’ve been instructed in His unconditional love and faithfulness to me since infancy…and time and time again, I find myself in this same predicament.

I so often stand on the edge not sure if I should take the leap into the deep. He tells me over and over that He’s there and will take care of me…He’ll catch me He says. I really have no reason to doubt His word… I’ve heard over and over again about how He’s caught all the others who’ve jumped before me…

…yet I hesitate…

This is where life gets frustrating. The inner conflict that I go through is one of two entities in my being fighting amongst each other. The one screams to just jump and see what happens…trust. The other reasons that you really don’t know if you’ll be caught or not so you better just sit tight…doubt.

I’ve found myself on the edge too many times to count and all too often…sadly… I turn and walk off the diving board, leaving the faithful Father expectantly treading in the water. I’m dejected knowing that I most likely just missed out on something wonderful.

How do I know?

From the others that already jumped.

They have incredibly thrilling testimonies to tell of what happened to them after their leap…I know that I’ve missed out…many times.

But the day finally came when I cried out to the Father in the deep, asking for His help and direction…His response was what I dreaded to hear.

You have to jump out here.

So at long last…after too many years had gone by…I took a deep breath…stood shakily on the edge…closed my eyes…and jumped.

You might not be too surprised to find out that I was caught after all. Not only that but the process of jumping was exhilarating! I’m filled with shame and regret in my realization of what a petrified fool that I’ve been all this time. Not only that, but there’s a sense of annoyed silliness when I see what I’ve been afraid of all this time. Not the deep water…but my own self doubt.

Take this scenario… I’m sure we’ve all been there …and think to the time in your life when you stood on the edge, contemplating what seemed like an ominous and overwhelming leap of faith across a vast chasm into the arms of the Father.

How long did you teeter before leaping?

Or did you simply plunge right in, always assuming (having faith) the Father would catch you?

I’m beginning to see how we approach this situation all throughout our lives. Time and time again, there will be a chasm to jump across, deep waters to jump into, or that cliff to leap off. Every time the Father will be there… arms already wide open even before our decisive feet leave the surface of the edge. Will you be surprised when you’re caught up in His arms?

Hopefully, we’ll always be able to say, “I knew You had me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Praise the LORD, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.

Psalm 117

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~